


you can be king again

by anothermiracle



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, ladrien, someone help this poor child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 04:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8314090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothermiracle/pseuds/anothermiracle
Summary: He's a cat now. One day he'll be a lion.





	

Adrien exhaled, watching as his breath materialized into wifts of white around his face. Hands in pocket, his gaze settled on the ground in front of him where snow began to pile up. In the distance, stray accordion music played. 

A few minutes passed, and his hands left the warm haven of his pockets to pick at the seam lining the hem of his jacket. His nail caught on the thread, unravelling it from its bonds, letting it go free. He would probably get in trouble for this with Nathalie, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. The string lifelessly fell onto the black of his pants as another breath of white hissed past his teeth. He buried his chin into the warmth of his scarf and inhaled. 

It had been a few hours since he had left the building he called home. A fight? A confrontation? Adrien honestly didn’t know. All he remembered was the disapproving scowl on his father’s face, the bite in his voice, the sharp glint in his eyes. It had made Adrien cower like a coward, made him hide behind a shaky smile, made him bite out a conviction of _I will do better next time Pere, for sure_. Nathalie had looked at him with sympathy as Gabriel Agreste walked away, but ended up trailing after the revered designer, leaving Adrien to wallow in self-pity.

His feet had taken him out into the snow. 

The Eiffel Tower was lit up, standing majestic and alone against the backdrop of the night sky. The snow that fell only illuminated its presence further, swirling around its metal bars and dancing against the lights. The crowd was sparse, due to the cold, no doubt. 

Adrien leaned his head back and closed his eyes, letting his skin catch the snowflakes that fell. 

“A-Adrien?”

His eyes snapped open. 

...and he almost fell off the bench.

“Ladybug?!”

There, in all her spotted glory, stood the heroine of Paris, staring at him, eyes wide with concern. Adrien sat frozen, fingers clutching his knees, mouth agape. What was she doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be on patrol at the other side of town?

At the surprise on the boy's face, Ladybug straightened. She had been leaning over, trying to catch a glimpse of the sad boy in the snow. He had been sitting there for awhile now, and she was supposed to be on patrol, dammit. But she couldn’t help but wonder what would lead a boy like Adrien Agreste to sit in the snow for copious amounts of time. There was snow accumulating in his hair, for heaven’s sake. The boy needed a hot chocolate, and fast.

“Hey there,” she chimed, grin etched on her face. “You alright, handsome boy?”

She almost face-palmed at that. _Sure, Marinette. Go for the Chat Noir route. He’ll definitely dig that._

Adrien studied the girl before him. This was one of the rare times she talked to him in his civilian form and his heart seemed to beat a little faster at the thought. Her hair was impeccable in her two ponytails as always, mask, suit, all intact. Her eyes, blue as the ocean, were trained worriedly on him, and he almost broke into a smile. What escaped instead was a small quirk of his lip and a furrow in his brow. A short bark of laughter escaped his lips, and he hung his head, leaning over his knees. His hands made their way through his hair, and came to rest at his nape. 

"No," he replied, voice shaky. "No, I don't think I am."

Marinette glanced down at his hunched figure and she felt her heart break a little. The boy looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. This was not the back of a 15 year old boy - this was an unfinished sculpture being chiselled one too many times by an unrelenting artist, a young bird made to fly with clipped wings, a boy trying desperately to be a man. She knelt down in front of him, her heartbeat ringing in her ears, and slid her arms around his head. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked hesitantly.

Adrien shakes his head. No, he was sick of trying to talk about it. Why would anyone care? What would _Ladybug_ care? She wouldn't understand. She had a wonderful family to return to everyday; he'd listened to her gushing about her parents countless times during joint patrol. A part of him resented her for that, but he knew the feeling was irrational, so he brushed it off.

So when she raised her arms and ran her hands along his shoulders to his back, Adrien didn't know what to do. He stiffened as he felt a warm figure wrap around his trembling frame. Opening his eyes, all he could see was red and black and it took everything in him not to collapse into her embrace there and then. He exhaled shakily. 

“L-Ladybu-”

“You know,” she interrupted, her breath whispering across his ear, sending a shiver through him. “I have a friend like you. You might have heard of him. He’s my partner-in-crime and my best friend. He’s a flirt, and says the worst puns.”

He buried his head into the crook of her neck. 

“...Sometimes,” she continued. “I see him with this faraway look in his eyes. The type that makes you wonder how big this universe is, or how many stars in the sky are there, and I get so lost in that look. It made me wonder what his dreams are, and how great he will be when he reaches them.”

His hands clutched onto her shoulders. 

“He’s a cat now,” she breathed, eyes closing. “One day, one day - he’ll be a lion.”

A choked sound escaped Adrien’s throat as he pressed his lips against the girl’s neck. They mouthed unintelligible words, ghosting them over her skin, hoping, hoping, that the words could sear themselves there and never fade. _I love you. I'm sorry. I love you. Thank you. I love you. I’m so tired. I love you. I wish you knew. I love you._ Hot tears made their way down his cheeks, burning them in the process. Her fingers combed through his hair, sending wave after wave of _warmthpleasuredelightlov-_ through him, causing him to tighten his grip on her. 

Marinette shifted her gaze to the night sky, watching as their breaths mingled in wisps of white. She prayed for someone out there to heal the broken boy in her arms, to take away the hurt, the neglect, the weariness plaguing him. She ran her fingers through his tresses one last time before squeezing him once. Reluctantly, she detangled herself from him to look at his face. His eyes were wet, teardrops hanging off the lashes like dew on grass. Her vision blurred at the sheer relief radiating from his countenance. She would hug him infinite times if he could feel like this always. Cupping his cheek, she leaned in and brushed her lips against his forehead. She heard his sharp intake of breath and almost giggled. 

Looking into his eyes once more, she gave him a small smile, to which he reflected with one of his own. With one last touch to his cheek, and as sudden as she came, she left, leaving the blond boy to his thoughts and his bench. 

Adrien’s gaze followed after her, watching her swing around the tower into oblivion. He sighed, and wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck. 

_A lion,_ she’d said. _I’ll become a lion._

He got up. He looked at the Eiffel tower once more. It seemed a little less lonely now. He shook his head and let out a gust of air. He put his hands in his pockets and he walked off. He dragged his feet and he thought about black hair and soft lips. He smiled. And he took the long way home.


End file.
